Dispensers for tape-conveyed articles such as labels

ABSTRACT

In a label dispenser of the kind in which self-adhering labels are lightly adhered to a roll of tape which is drawn step-by-step over an edge member to cause the labels to become partly peeled, one after the other, from the tape, there is incorporated means acting automatically to compensate for any slackness that may develop in the tape as a result of a label being plucked therefrom, thus ensuring accuracy of delivery.

United States Patent Inventor Kenneth Burbidge 73 Hustle Ave., Mangere Bridge, Manakau, New Zealand Appl. No. 721,856 Filed Apr. 16, 1968 Patented Nov. 9, 1971 Priority Apr. 17, 1967 New Zealand 148051 DISPENSERS FOR TAPE-CONVEYED ARTICLES SUCH AS LABELS 24 Claims, 53 Drawing Figs.

u.s.c1 156/384, 1 156/577, 156/584, 221/73 Int. Cl 321 341m Field of Search 156/384,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 8/1964 9/1968 l/ l 966 8/ 1966 9/ 1967 l/l969 2/ 1969 Silverstein lkelheimer Satas Kind et al.

Loeffler Kaplan Voigt et al.

FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Primary Examiner-Samuel Feinberg Attorney-Waters, Roditi, Schwartz & Nissen ABSTRACT: In a label dispenser of the kind in which self-adhering labels are lightly adhered to a roll of tape which is drawn step-by-step over an edge member to cause the labels to become partly peeled, one after the other, from the tape, there is incorporated means acting automatically to compensate for any slackness that may develop in the tape as a result of a label being plucked therefrom, thus ensuring accuracy of delivery.

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2. A label dispenser in accordance with claim 1, comprising an actuating rod having a stop for engagement with the guided drawing clamp and also having an end connected to an operating device.
 3. A label dispenser in accordance with claim 2, comprising a rotatable driving eccentric connected to the said actuating rod.
 4. A label dispenser in accordance with claim 3, comprising a pivoted operating arm carrying an eccentric drivingly connected to the said actuating rod and to the drawing clamp.
 5. A label dispenser in accordance with claim 4, comprising manually engageable means for applying movement to the drivingly connected drawing clamp and to thereby move the gripped tape relatively to the edge member.
 6. A label dispenser in accordance with claim 3, comprising a tractive roller with an eccentric connection to the said actuating rod, to thereby engage drivingly the dispenser in tractive contact with a moving article and to move the drawing clamp and the gripped tape relatively to the edge member, there also being provided means causing the said tractive roller to bear with pressure upon the moving article.
 7. A label dispenser in accordance with claim 6, comprising supports enabling the dispenser to be positioned in working position adjacent to an independently moving article, and bearing means enabling the said tractive roller to be brought into bearing contact with the moving article, whereby the tractive roller drivingly connected to the drawing clamp is rotated and the eccentric means carried by the tractive roller moves the said clamp and gripped tape relatively to the edge member.
 8. A label dispenser in accordance with claim 7, comprising means, such as a spring, to cause a returning or reverse movement of the drivingly connected members after completion of the drawing movement, and thereby ensure a complete cycle of actuation, whereby the drawing clamp is released from the tape and is brought to a relatively new position thereon.
 9. A label dispenser in accordance with claim 7, comprising means providing that the drawing clamp shall be returned to a new position on the tape at the end of each actuation cycle, by being drivingly returned with the actuating rod, by the continued forward rotation of the said eccentric on the tractive roller, means providing for disengagement of tractive contact of the said tractive roller with the moving article, by the provision of a hollow segment in the surface of the tractive roller and providing means for the said hollow segment to occupy a position adjacent to the moving article at the end of each actuating cycle, halting means providing that the tractive roller shall be halted in its position with the hollow segment adjacent to the moving article, thereby ensuring that the moving article escapes freely from the dispenser without participating in further tractive engagement, by means comprising protruding arresting arms pivoted to the roller, whereby the circular movement of the free end of the arms around the roller shaft is arrested by the surface of the moving article to subsequently check the movement of the said roller by eccentric stop means thereon; the said halting means cooperating to provide engaging levers bringing the tractive roller into tractive contract with a following moving article, whereby the said arresting arms depend into the path of the said following article and are impelled thereby to engage a second eccentric stop means provided on the tractive roller and rotate the hollow segment out of its disengaging position.
 10. A label dispenser in accordance with claim 9, comprising a multiplicity of drawing clamps and cooperating disengaging means associated with the one tractive roller, whereby the said means are duplicated, the carried eccentrics are accordingly spaced angularly around the tractive roller and segmented disengaging means and the escapement means accordingly spaced in working relationship thereto, the multiple drawing clamps and actuating means cooperating to ensure that, during actuation, always one drawing clamp will be in drawing movement.
 11. A label dispenser in accordance with claim 10, when modified to comprise means providing for an independently driven shaft or roller to be engageable in tractive contact with the said tractive roller, and means providing that the respective hollow disengaging segment of the tractive roller is halted adjacent to the independently driven roller when arrested by the arresting arms coming into contact with the moving article.
 12. A label dispenser in accordance with claim 6, comprising supports enabling the Dispenser to be positioned in working vicinity to an independantly moving procession of articles, and means providing that the said pivoted arm, by protruding into the path of movement of the articles, will be pivotally displaced by the body of each moving article, whereby the relative pivoting eccentric drivingly connected to the drawing clamp moves the clamp and gripped tape relatively to the edge member.
 13. A label dispenser in accordance with claim 12, comprising means for providing that the compensating drawing movement affecting the slackened tape shall be influenced by a deformable but resilient tire provided on a jockey roller disposed on the said pivoted arm.
 14. A label dispenser in accordance with claim 6, comprising supports enabling the dispenser to be positioned in working vicinity to a moving article, means providing that the pivoted guide means of the drawing clamp, by protruding into the path of the moving article, will be pivotally displaced by the body of the moving article in relation to the edge member, and means providing a separate pivoted guide means for the edge member and the said tractive roller which likewise protrudes, but slightly, into the path of the moving article, whereby displacement of the drawing clamp guide in relation to the tractive roller and edge member guide means is constant in each repeating single actuation.
 15. A label dispenser in accordance with claim 4, comprising supports enabling the dispenser to be positioned in working vicinity to a moving article, a multiplicity of means to provide that the said lever arms are pivoted to the shaft carrying the driving eccentrics and in turn depend into the path of a moving article, means providing that the said arms shall have a limited but free angular movement between eccentric stop means connected to the eccentric-carrying shaft when being impelled by a moving article to thereby drivingly move the connected drawing clamp and whereby the said arms, having circular motion, move clear of the article at the end of each actuating cycle and whereby the following arm, by being arrested against the passing article, halts the drawing movement and subsequently, as the article passes, then depends into the path of a following article, and means providing that the drawing clamp is drivingly connected to the rotating eccentric whereby the drawing clamp is moved forwardly and the gripped tape moved relatively to the edge member, and subsequently released from the tap and drivingly returned to its new position on the tape, by the continued forward rotation of the carried eccentric.
 16. A label dispenser in accordance with claim 2, comprising means providing for engagement of a thrusting article against an actuating member, whereby the actuating movement tensions a drawing spring and moves the drawing clamp to a new position on the tape, means providing for the depositing and application of a label from the tape on the said article by providing guiding means for the tape leading from the edge member and directing the tape reversely into a reversely drawing clamp, and means providing for a variable setting of the edge member and application means to thereby ensure that the label will be deposited consistently to a desired site upon the article, the edge member and application means being slidably mounted on a body portion of the dispenser.
 17. A label dispenser comprising a support for a supply of backing tape to which self-adhering labels are lightly adhered, an edge member, means for guiding the tape in bent condition over the said edge member, drawing means including a drawing roller and a pressure roller between which the tape is led and drawn as the rollers rotate in drawing relation to each other, means to effect the drawing movement by providing a drawing spring and a pivoted operating arm and providing engaging means, such as a roller-clutch or pawl and ratchet, whereby, during movement in a direction opposed by the drawing spring, the said operating arm is disengaged from the drawing roller and, in opposite movement, is drivingly engaged therewith and drawn by the said drawing spring which is connected to the operating arm and a body portion of the dispenser and presses the arm in a drawing direction whereby the pivoted operating arm on being disengaged from the drawing roller, is swung to tension the drawing spring, and is released to engage and drivingly rotate the two rollers by the influence of the spring, thereby providing a spring-influenced main drawing movement and a spring-influenced compensating drawing movement affecting the slackened tape and operatively related to the waned influence of the said drawing spring.
 18. A label dispenser in accordance with claim 1, comprising a hydrostatic ram mounted on the body portion of the dispenser, means to provide that the thrusting member of the ram serves as a plunger member for the dispenser, and pressure supply passages and a control valve whereby the ram can be connected to a suitable pressure supply and actuated and controlled.
 19. A label dispenser in accordance with claim 18, comprising means permitting of manual engagement and control of the ram.
 20. A label dispenser in accordance with claim 18, comprising supports enabling the dispenser to be arranged in working vicinity to an independently moving article, and means providing that the control valve will be actuated by an actuating lever protruding into the path of the moving article, whereby pressure is delivered to the said ram when the actuating lever is pivotally displaced from the said path to open the valve in the supply passage leading to a forward moving chamber of the ram, while the valve will be returned to its original position when the lever is not displaced, to thereby open the supply passage leading to a returning chamber of the ram and close the passage leading to the forward moving chamber thereof.
 21. A label dispenser in accordance with claim 6, and wherein the tractive roller is caused to bear with pressure on the surface of the moving article by the provision of a pivotal mounting and a bearing spring, and wherein means are provided whereby the edge member is disposed to deposit the peeled label onto the passing article.
 22. A label dispenser in accordance with claim 3, comprising means for adjusting the length of drawing movement, including an adjustably mounted eccentric shaft adapted to be set at an appropriate distance from the concentric center.
 23. A label dispenser in accordance with claim 1, comprising drawing mechanism including a drawing roller and a pressure roller and closing and opening means whereby the rollers are pressed towards each other during drawing rotation and are parted for counterwise rotation of the drawing roller, and means for applying the compensating drawing movement to affect a slackened tape, including a spring opposing limited angular movement of a driving pinion with respect to the drawing roller, which spring, upon the tape becoming slackened ahead of the drawing mechanism, rotates the drawing roller relatively to the pinion when stationary.
 24. A label dispenser in accordance with claim 1, including means to enable a printing or similar process to be applied to the labels prior to their being dispensed by the dispenser, the said means comprising an impression form arranged adjacent to the edge member, a pivoted poisable buffetting hammer adapted to buffet the underside of the tape and label thereon against the impression form, a latch whereby after the buffetting hammer has been poised, it is latched in the poised position preparatory to subsequent tripping, a lever adapted to move this buffetting hammer into a poised position, an ink-carrying ribbon adapted to supply ink to the impression form, means enabling the said ribbon to have a movable relationship to the impression form by being wound upon reels at each end, one of these reels being a winding reel in driving engagement with a rotatable core of a supply roll of the tape, while the other reel is an unwinding disengaged reel, Means for reversing the movement of the reels to thereby rewind the ribbon in an opposite direction, said reversing means including a pivoted throwing lever and a rotatably mounted driving pinion drivingly connected to the supply roll core to thereby cause driving engagement of either one of the ribbon reels to be established, means providing that the latch of the buffetting hammer will be tripped by engagement with the said lever drivingly connected to the mechanism during return movement, and a set screw provided on the buffetting hammer to permit of adjustment of the striking face of the hammer. 